Justin Walters had it going very well on Thursday as he reached four-under-par through 11 holes in the first round of the DP World Tour’s Porsche European Open in Hamburg, Germany, but he dropped two shots on the way in to finish two-under-par in a share of 11th.
Teeing off on the 10th hole, he made three birdies on his front nine, and then picked up one more on the second after turning in three-under. He parred his way to the fifth, but then he dropped shots on the sixth and ninth to end up three strokes of the lead which was shared by Haotong Li of China and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren on five-under.
The leaders had a one-stroke edge over Wil Besseling of the Netherlands, with seven players sharing fourth on three-under. Walters was in a share of 11th with, amongst others, Richard Sterne, who had an eagle, five birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey on a colourful scorecard.
Other than those two players, it was not a strong day for the South African contingent: Wilco Nienaber was next best on two over in a share of 54th, a position he shared with Darren Fichardt. Daniel van Tonder was in a share of 72nd after a three-over opener, while Brandon Stone had a four-under to start to be in a share of 90th. Zander Lombard and Haydn Porteous were on five-over, Thrison Lawrence was on six-over and JC Ritchie had a first round to forget with his nine-over 81 including three double-bogeys and four bogeys.
